Alternate Chapter Five
by Jetafray Angel
Summary: Just as the title says.


"What's your name?" Jack suddenly asked.

"Danny."

Jack paused. "Danny Phantom?"

Danny stared at Jack, fear in his eyes. Then, using all the strength he had left, he vanished.

Jack was more than shocked. He had been acting off of a guess, one he highly doubted. But…he was right, much to his surprise. It had been way different than what he expected. The boy didn't even have to believe to see. Heck, the boy vanished in an instant, practically by choice.

"Wait!" Jack yelled, looking around frantically. Man in Moon had obvious thought of him as important, and it was best they found him as soon as possible, for if Pitch was really back, there was no telling what would happen.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I swear!" Jack tried again, spinning in a circle. If the boy had vanished, that meant one of two things. One, he was just invisible. Or two, he teleported.

Jack really hoped it wasn't the second one and that the teenager would listen to him.

"We…we need your help," Jack slowly admitted. He hated it. Even after becoming a Guardian he had loved being on his own, and would often bring up random snow days in the middle of summer for the hell of it.

"The Moon said…Well, it didn't tell us much, but it showed us you."

No response.

"Pitch Black is out there, and he wants to bring fear to everyone. He wants everyone to live in some nightmare where they only know fear, and they don't have hope. Apparently…you got dragged into this."

"Too true," the teen's voice sounded, and he appeared suddenly. He was in the same place, and sweat was beating down.

Jack had to wonder how much that had taken out of him.

"Being dragged into…I think this is an alternate reality, or something," Danny mentioned, whipping the sweat away before it had the chance to freeze on his face. "I mean, usually I'd be attacked by a crazed ghost."

Jack blinked. That was…unexpected. Ghosts? Sure, he was a winter spirit, but he wasn't technically a ghost.

"So yeah," Danny mentioned. "Being dragged here by that 'Pitch' guy you mentioned and escaping all in one day is pretty tiring. Haven't been this tired since…" Danny trailed off, staring into space.

Jack was uncertain what the boy was thinking about, but knew better than to ask at that moment. Right then, he just needed to convince the boy to come with him to North and the others. That way, they could figure out something.

"You should come with me," Jack mentioned.

Was it just him, or did it suddenly get darker?

"The other Guardians are looking for you across the globe. I wasn't even looking, really…" Jack felt ashamed to admit that he had been on his way to see Jamie and had just seen a random kid in the forest. Haha…Talk about lucky…

He'd have to put in a good word for the Leprechaun later.

Danny's eyes lit up. He wasn't really all that hopeful, just glad. Someone he hadn't even met had already been searching for him!

But…Sam and Tucker were probably in a panic attack.

A wave of homesickness swept over Danny, but he put on a brave (ish) face as he nodded to Jack.

"Okay. But…I'm kinda tired…" That was a lie. Danny was sure that if he didn't get food or sleep the next second he would collapse from exhaustion. "See, escaping that place hadn't been…well…easy."

Jack frowned, realizing he heard Danny's story. Kidnapped. Alternate reality. Pitch's fault. Powerful enough to escape. Can vanish whenever. Exhausted. Probably terrified (he would be, too), and was most likely very homesick. That is, if the kid even had a home.

"Look, I don't know about this stuff. Can you fly?"

Danny's blue eyes met his, but they fell soon. "Not right now."

Okay, so the kid could fly, resist cold, and vanish. All righty. Even if he couldn't do it at that second.

"Okay…" Jack was having trouble thinking of a way to improve the situation. He twirled his staff slowly between his fingers, thinking hard. "Wait…I have it!"

"Have what, Jack?"

Time seemed to freeze as both boys' heads shot around to see Pitch Black, looking very annoyed, pissed, weakened, and very, very in the mood for revenge.

"See, I have no clue what you did to escape," Pitch said, walking over to the two. Jack held his staff out threateningly, ice forming at the tip. "All I know is that was one powerful move."

Danny glared, his eyes flashing green. 'Scary eyes,' as Vlad called them. Although his fired ecto-blasts.

Jack saw the green flash in the corner of his eye. He knew what it was without a quick glance, but would ask later.

"Leave us alone," Danny ordered, crouching in a fighting position. He knew his powers were bound to fail on him, but he still hoped he could put up a good fight.

"Why would I leave such a threat alone?" Pitch snarled, shooting glared between the two teens. "It's almost a if you have a twin, Jack, Danny. Would be a shame if one were to, oh I don't know, go into a nightmare?"

Danny showed no fear to that. "That won't work in me again," Danny promised. He had lived through a nightmare, then slept in one caused by him. It wouldn't effect him. He knew that trick already.

Pitch walked slowly forward, his eyes never leaving the pair.

Jack rose his staff and slammed it on the ground, causing ice to spread. It shot up more violently around Pitch. Ice cold eyes met evil yellow as Jack dared him to make a move.

"What do you want, Pitch?" he demanded. "We bet you last time. We can do it again."

Pitch grinned slowly. "Ah, but you missed something."

Jack mentally cursed. The unknown variable…

"I have an advantage you didn't realize."

Jack spat, "It doesn't matter. You're dead. No one fears you."

Danny had a confused look on his face. It wasn't that he was afraid of Pitch (hell, he was terrified), but he had the courage to stand up to him. Wasn't courage more important than not being afraid?

Pitch just smirked. Dark sand crawled over the icicles, melting them into nothing. "You don't get it, boy. You don't need to be feared in order to be believed in!"

With that, the sand formed a huge wave towering over them, and it fell.

The first thing Danny did was fling himself in front of Jack. It was an instinct, really, to protect.

After all, what's a ghost supposed to do over an obsession? True, he was only half-ghost, but that just meant the obsession just wasn't as strong. It was still there.

And, despite the exhaustion, Danny forced himself to transform into his ghostly form. The ecto-shield materialized, and when the black sand crashed, it was forced around the shield.

Jack stared at Danny, finally seeing it. It was like…he was part immortal, or something like that. But he knew Danny wouldn't be able to hold the shield long at all, as it was already cracking from pressure.

Jack thrust his staff on the edge of the shield, and a layer of ice spread. It filled the cracks, and the shield seemed to grow stronger with the added winter power.

Danny stopped in his shielding, surprised. Not only was Jack doing something, but whatever that something was was holding the ectoplasm steady in the ice.

On a sudden thought, Danny grabbed Jack's shoulder and turned them both intangible and invisible. The next instant, both were under ground, and the black sand missed them by a millisecond.

They landed in an underground sewer, splashing in the icky water. It only went up to their knees, but it was truly revolting.

Upon landing, Danny released everything. He collapsed in the water, barely being caught by Jack. He was out cold before the rings even formed around his waist.

Jack sighed, holding the odd boy by the under arms. Jack was beyond confused. But he pushed away his questions, focusing on one goal: getting to the North Pole. There, he'd contact the others. Then they'd get together, get this teenager better, and find a way to stop Pitch, once and for all.

So, Jack floated out of the water with Danny. The teen wasn't even shivering from the cold like a normal person would be. Then again, it was obvious that Danny wasn't normal.

With his staff over his shoulder and holding Danny by his shirt, Jack flew them at his quickest speeds around the sewer, looking for a way out. A ladder was key, and up they flew. The lid had practically exploded open.

The street, though, of the simple town was empty. It wasn't even snowing, and for once, Jack passed the town without causing it to snow. The wind was already gusting, knowing this needed to be taken care of before Jack even told it.

While Jack could ask the Winds, MiM controlled them.

It was a quick trip, seeming as if he had been teleported instead of carried hundreds of kilometers. The doors to North's lair had blew open, and the wind didn't stop pushing him until he was in front of the globe.

He set Danny down. Danny had a steady breath going on, but…it seemed way slower than a normal person's. As was his heart beat, when Jack had tested that, too.

"North!" Jack cried, leaving Danny as he slammed open the door to his office.

With Christmas days away, North couldn't afford to leave the Pole. Jack hasn't noticed, but the yetis were working at an abnormal speed (or it appeared to be), as they made hundreds of toys for the billions of children.

North's eyes flew open in shock as he looked at the stricken look on Jack's face. The boy who he had grown to think of as a (somewhat) son was clearly terrified of something, and whatever it was…was big.

"What is it, Jack?"

Christmas couldn't wait, but he could spare a few minutes from making very special gifts for a few special children to see what was happening.

"I found him," Jack replied. "I found Danny Phantom. And he's kinda sleeping on the carpet."

North wasn't expected that. "Oh."

* * *

North had instantly set about in pulling the Northern Lights, and the other Guardians flowed in at light speeds. They were all in the Globe Room, as Jack had come to call it, surrounding the unconscious teenager on the floor.

The only sound in the room was their breath, but the boy's deep ones seemed to be heard among all of them.

At first, North had been very skeptical. The boy, although he had similar body shape, didn't appear to have glowing green eyes. And, despite the fact Jack had assure him many times, he was still very doubtful of it.

Tooth was curious. She didn't recognize his face from any of the teeth memories, meaning he probably never lost any baby teeth. Then again, everyone lost baby teeth. That left her super curious to his past. Not to mention his teeth were abnormally white, even if they weren't as shiny as Jack's.

Bunnymund, however, was just in outright denial. He couldn't see the resemblance. As far as he was concerned, the boy was Jack Frost with black hair. And, considering he had warmed up slightly to Jack Frost, he didn't want another going around.

Sandy, however, was concerned. The teen's sleep was dreamless, and Sandy didn't give him good dreams, otherwise he would sleep longer. Then again, the teen obviously needed lots of rest. He felt conflicted.

Jack was the only one who was certain. He had seen his eyes glow green. He had seen his raven hair turn a snowy white. He had seen him turn tanner, and had witnessed the power the kid held even when he was purely exhausted. The teen was a new force to all of them, and the fact that MiM had told them about him had to mean something.

And to think…Jack hadn't even told them about their encounter with Pitch Black yet. He had formed a white lie, saying he saw the kid collapse in the middle of the road after speaking to him for a bit. It wasn't a lie, but skipped a lot of details. Important details.

Finally, the boy's breathing seemed to become a tad sharper. It was obvious the boy had woken up, and yet he kept his eyes closed. It was a good tactic, but seeing as he had no clue everyone was watching him and one person was a master of sleep, it was clear he was trying to fake sleeping.

"Danny?" Jack asked, poking the teen's shoulder with his staff. It froze over slightly, and North and Tooth glared at him lightly. 'What?' he mouthed, shrugging.

Danny opened his eyes, which widened with fear as he saw the five of them towering over him. Danny had regretted it, suddenly wishing he was actually asleep so he could deal with…those people…later. But, when he realized…that they weren't…his kind of normal, he shot up and stared at them.

"Well, he can see us," Bunny noted. "So he must believe in us."

Danny just blinked, not believing he was staring at a huge rabbit. Sure, he had seen over grown plants and snakes, but a live…furry…colored rabbit was new to him in every way.

Danny's eyes fell on the feathered girl, who had a big smile on her face. She was hovering lightly over the ground, and what appeared to be to mini versions of here were by her side. Her green feathers weren't ectoplasm green, and she hadn't set off his ghost sense, so he knew she wasn't a ghost.

But then again, Pitch hadn't sent off his ghost sense, either.

When his eyes rested on a smiling Sandman, Danny didn't know what to feel. He didn't like how he was made of sand, or how the little hand above his head was waving at him, but the warm smile on his face made it so Danny wanted to smile back. But he didn't, of course, his eyes falling on the next person.

North met Danny's eyes, and Danny felt like he was being looked through. The 'naughty' and 'nice' tattoos on his arms confused Danny, but he didn't let it show.

When Danny saw Jack, he felt a tad better. For some reason, he felt like he could trust Jack. And, after the attack, it was clear Jack cared enough to try and get him to safety.

Maybe these were his friends.

"Uhh…" was all Danny said, very unsure how to react.

"Maybe he's special," Tooth said. "Maybe he can see us and not believe. There are a few humans like that, you know. Of course, they only appear around every decade…"

"'I'm right here, ya know," Danny mentioned, throwing his arms out. "No need to talk about me like I'm not there!"

Tooth blushed. "Right. Sorry."

They stood in silence (well, some floating, and Danny sitting). Eyes moving from one person to the next, all unsure how to continue on.

"For the love of…" Bunny muttered, crossing his arms. "Look, are you Danny Phantom, mate?"

Danny blinked. He turned to Jack, who nodded. Even with that assurance Danny wasn't sure he could trust a giant talking rabbit.

"Maybe," Danny replied. He stood up, crossing his arms. "Depends on who wants to know."

The bunny glared. "I want to know."

"And who are you?"

Bunnymond fumed. "I'm the Easter Bunny."

Danny's bottom lip quivered a few times before he exploded into a fit of laughter. He had to hold his chest when it started aching. A few tears slid down. Danny had needed a good laugh, and that was…just…Even Sam would've laughed at that.

Bunny stood there, unable to react to the laughter.

Jack had snickered a bit, putting a hand over his mouth and turning away a tad to hide it. He recalled when he challenged Bunny, and this…Danny reminded him of himself before he became a Guardian.

Eventually, Danny got ahold of himself. His eyes were a tad puffy from his tears of laughter, and he found it hard to hold a straight face. But he did, nonetheless.

"So…you're…the Easter Bunny? Please!" His voice was filled with sarcasm. "I mean, unless you're a ghost (which I highly doubt), then you're…I don't even know what you are!"

Bunny's ears shot up in anger. "He doesn't believe and he can flippin' see us!"

"Flippin'?" Danny asked. "What is this? The eighties?"

Sandy and Jack laughed lightly at that one.

Danny turned to North. "And what? I suppose you're Santa Clause?" He had been kidding, and was shocked when the man nodded.

"That I am," he claimed, his accent dripping. "And I can see you'd be…" North was having a hard time seeing if he would be on the Naughty List, seeing as he had a Jack-like feeling, or Nice List, seeing as it was clear he was good-hearted and had done a lot of good.

Danny blinked. "You do know my parents have had a feud over your existence since the day of my birth, right?" He left out the part about it ruining almost every Christmas of his life.

North didn't know of a way to respond to that.

Danny looked around at all them, meeting Jack's eyes, then North's, Sandy's, Tooth's,. and Bunny's. It dawned on him the seriousness in their eyes.

"Wait…you're all real?"

All his childhood of being told they didn't exist, and if he saw something it was a ghost, seemed to fade away. But then he remembered he was in an alternate reality.

But then he realized something. He hadn't ever heard of Jack Frost…

"Why is it I've never heard of you?" Danny asked, turning to face Jack. "I mean, my parents fight over Saint Nick's existence, my mom used to tell me to not let 'Frightmare' get me, because he'd give me nightmares (which I can relate to that Pitch guy and Sandman), and I was never allowed to hide my teeth because she said a ghost would swipe them. But… The closet thing I can get to you, Jack, is Frostbite."

He was being serious, too.

Everyone stared in shock. Clearly, this boy was talking about stuff none of them were even relatively familiar with. It was like he had lived in a shell of fake all his life, stripped from the joyous hope all children get.

"You mea…" Tooth began, fluttering over to him."You never really…You never had a chance to believe in us?"

Danny ignored her, staring right at Jack.

"Frostbite? Was that a joke?"

Danny could tell Jack was a bit hurt.

"NO!" Danny instantly yelled. "I was being serious. In the Zone there are these yetis–" North gaped "–And they taught me how to do cyrokensis. Their leader's name was Frostbite, who was incredibly skilled in the ice sculpting area."

"Yetis can control ice?" North gathered, looking at the yetis who were working like the wind on tons of Christmas toys.

Danny shook his head. "Only the ghost ones."

North replied sarcastically, "Thanks for the helpful answer."

Jack met Danny's in the eyes, and ice blue eyes met freezing blue eyes. "I…guess I believe you. I'm sorry, but I don't have an answer as for why you've never heard of me."

Jack felt pained. He felt…what was it? Oh, yeah. Invisible again. He hadn't had that feeling for eight years, and believe him, he didn't miss it at all.

Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stood up. "It's fine. I was just…ya know. Sorry." Under his breath, he muttered, "Stupid. Insult the person who probably saved your life…"

Jack shook his head. "Well, maybe, seeing as you've never really had the chance…" Something dawned on him, recalling something from their previous discussion.

_"Being dragged into…I think this is an alternate reality, or something," Danny had mentioned. "I mean, usually I'd be attacked by a crazed ghost." _

"Didn't you say something about an alternate reality?"

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. He hadn't really thought about it, but it was his best guess. He had…Everything was different in this world, and it was so different that it made him think of the universe stuff.

"I'm not sure," was Danny's reply.

"Alternate reality?" Tooth asked, looking around.

Sandman had a little globe above his head, which turned into a second one to how a new world.

"But…Is that even possible?" Tooth finished.

Danny nodded. "Oh yeah. Believe me when I say it, too."

Bunnymund glared lightly, leaning down as looking at Danny. "And how do we know you're not trying to trick us, mate?" he challenged.

Danny met the glare, but his eyes refused to glow green. But realizing he didn't have a clever answer, and deflated. "You don't."

That caused a weird silence to settle over the Guardians. Finally, Tooth said something that got everyone's attention.

"Well, I guess we have to believe him. MiM told us about him…but…" She trailed off, staring fixedly at Danny. "You don't really look like the statue."

Danny frowned. They had a statue of him? "Statue?" Danny asked.

North laughed. "What an excellent idea!"

Bunnymund blinked. "What is, mate?"

"The statue!" North cried, turning around. He ha to go back to his office where had moved it. Maybe it would help them find out the mystery of Danny, and if he really was Phantom.

* * *

With the statue in the room, Danny gaping at it, and the other's awaiting his reaction, sunlight streamed lightly through the windows in a harmless way. The loudest sound was Tooth's buzz of wings, but that seemed faint as they watch Danny trace the little symbol on the chest of the statue.

"How…"

They all stood kind of eagerly. Whatever was going to be said must've been important.

Suddenly, Danny shot around. His face was serious and slightly cold, much to everyone's shock. "You can't tell anyone!" he cried, swiping his hand. "If anyone finds out I'll end up on the dissection table at the GiW's lab!"

More shock formed in all of them. Dissection? People would dissect a teenager because he was different?

"We won't," Tooth assured, being the first.

Above Sandman, a little zipper formed, the zipper zipping it up to show his lips were closed.

"You're secret's safe with us," North guaranteed. With three days until Christmas Eve, it was important they get Pitch away quickly. If he ruined Christmas…Well, as North always said, Christmas was more important than Easter. Usually. Most of the time.

That one time was an exception.

"I still don't see it," Bunny deadpanned.

Danny relaxed, hanging his head. Okay, he felt like he could trust the 'Guardians'. Well, all besides Bunny. But maybe he'd grow on him. Probably not. But it was a possibility.

"I'm…Uh…" How would Danny explain his situation to people who have never dealt with ghosts? He would need a simple way. And a quick way. The faster he got home the better.

Maybe he could just start from the very beginning: his parents' college days.

Danny did tell them, excluding the stuff about Vlad, about the researches. He explained about the portal incident. It took him a lot longer than expected, and they were still confused on a lot of parts.

Danny didn't tell then select things, though. Like his ghostly wail, evil future self, and Clockwork.

They remained silent, Danny being the only one willing to drink hot chocolate (the elves had brought in some) as he awaited a response. Part of him thought they were going to send him away, not believing he could be dead yet alive.

What was it Frostbite had told him long ago? "By being dead you are alive?" Eh, it was something like that.

Jack was beaming, which surprised him. "Holly fudge! Dude, you are a Guardian!" he cried, breaking the silence. "By the sounds of it, people tossed you around like trash, yet you worked your butt of to protect them!"

Danny blushed lightly.

"I agree with Jack!" Tooth mentioned. "I couldn't imagine how hard its been for you…"

Danny shrugged. "I have my two best friends to help me out, but—" 'but I'm not sure if they are even alive from the black sand right now,' Danny almost added, but decided against it. "—but last I saw them…that Pitch guy was invading our school."

They all straightened. No one had heard the tale of how Danny had gotten through into their universe, and they were all incredibly curious.

Noticing this, Danny began, "Well, I was running away from Dash (he's the school jock), when the ground began shaking. Weird sand formed into horses, and it swept along the hallways, putting people to sleep with these odd pictures over their heads."

"Nightmare," Bunny muttered.

"I followed it invisibly, but when I saw it was heading for my friends…" Danny paused, licking his lips. "I got mad. I fired my blasts at it, and the horses would disintegrate only to reform again. Eventually, something grabbed my leg. I iced the hand—"

Jack stared, befuddled. They looked alike and both could control ice? Sure, he could do all of winter, and ice was just a small part of that, but, still…

"—I fired ice rays at the sand, and it froze over and stopped. That's when the Pitch guy…" Danny trailed off, turning and pointing at Jack. "He called me Jack Frost. He also called me when he thought I was you a twit…You must've made him really mad."

Jack grinned smugly. "I know."

Danny shook his head, laughing lightly. "Anyway, back on subject, the last thing I remember before being knocked out was being pulled away from my friends. And that he called himself "the Boogie Man," but that wasn't really important to me."

Danny began to play with his fingers. "You know, Pitch kinda reminds me of a combination of these two ghosts I fought against."

They remained silent, clearly wanting to know the half-ghost's thoughts.

Danny realized this and sighed. "One was the FrightKnight. He was this mid-evil knight with a dark horse and green sword. The sword, known as the Soul Shredder, of you were cut by it, it would make you live your worst nightmare. Luckily I never was.

"But to get rid of him, I had to separate him and his sword and put his sword in a pumpkin. Then he'd be gone."

"So the sword could give people nightmares? Make then live it?" Bunnymund asked, leaning back. "That's…just…"

Danny shrugged. "I've fought worse. He was the spirit of Halloween, though. He was meant to be scary."

Sandman had little Z's floating off his head, clearly at a loss. Thy wee still awake when they were under their nightmare. Pitch didn't work like that.

"I was getting to that," Danny mentioned. "Recently, like last month, there was another ghost. Frightmare. He as his Sleepwalkers relied on dream power and would put everyone to sleep. It was good dreams, though. You ha to be shocked out of them to wake up."

"What's so bad about good dreams?" North asked. "They give you hope."

Danny sighed. "You don't get it. The more people slept, the more power they had. They got stronger and stronger. What Frightmare wanted to do was put everyone in the world asleep, and they would never wake up."

That made an odd wave wash over them. Pitch was a combination of those two ghosts, only the way to get rid of him was much harder. You needed to not fear him. Not fearing was key. You needed to be fearless when you faced him, otherwise you'd be…well…in your own nightmare.

"So, you're saying you've had some experience with this stuff, mate?" Bunnymund got out of that. "Maybe you can help. I just don't see why we need anther Jack Frost."

Jack glared at Bunny. "What was that? Did the kangaroo say something?"

Danny choked a laugh.

"What did you call me?" Bunny challenged rising up. He had the oddest feeling of déjà vu.

"A kangaroo. Remember? That's what you are, right?"

"I'm a bunny. The Easter Bunny."

Yep. Deja vu filled the air completely.

* * *

_**This is the alternate version of F&F's chapter five. If it makes you happy to know, I DO have around this much typed up for that version. Only I have to find out where to divide it into chapters. **_

_**This is complete. I will NOT be continuing this. I may whenever I finish F&F, but that's a long time from now. **_

_**Not until next time because I won't be returning to this,**_

_**~Jet**_


End file.
